phe research 2014/15 annual review · phe research 2014/15: annual review 6 funding phe records...

PHE Research 2014/15 Annual review

PHE Research 2014/15: Annual review

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About Public Health England

Public Health England exists to protect and improve the nation's health and wellbeing, and

reduce health inequalities. It does this through world-class science, knowledge and

intelligence, advocacy, partnerships and the delivery of specialist public health services.

PHE is an operationally autonomous executive agency of the Department of Health.

Public Health England

Wellington House

133-155 Waterloo Road

London SE1 8UG

Tel: 020 7654 8000

www.gov.uk/phe

Twitter: @PHE_uk

Facebook: www.facebook.com/PublicHealthEngland

For queries relating to this document, please contact: [email protected]

© Crown copyright 2015

You may re-use this information (excluding logos) free of charge in any format or

medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0. To view this licence,

visit OGL or email [email protected]. Where we have identified any third

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concerned.

Published: December 2015

PHE publications gateway number: 2015537

http://www.gov.uk/phe

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mailto:[email protected]

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Contents

About Public Health England 2

Foreword 4

Executive summary 5

Research in PHE 5

Strategy 5

Funding 6

Significant research initiatives 7

Global and international research 8

Building research capacity and capability 8

Publications 11

Research governance 17

Staff recognition for research achievements

(notified to PHE’s Research Support Office) 19

Appendix 1: Funding awards involving PHE that were secured during 2014/15 21


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Foreword

Public Health England (PHE) is the expert national public health agency that fulfils the

statutory duty of the Secretary of State for Health to protect health and address

inequalities, and executes his power to promote the health and wellbeing of the nation.

PHE has operational autonomy. Our freedoms are set out in the Framework Agreement

with our parent department, the Department of Health. The agreement makes clear that

PHE must speak to the evidence and its professional judgement. The overwhelming

majority of our staff are scientists, researchers and public health professionals.

PHE has four core functions:

protecting the public’s health from infectious diseases and other hazards to health

improving the public’s health and wellbeing and reducing health inequalities

improving population health through sustainable health and care services

building the capability and capacity of the public health system

We deliver these through advocacy, partnerships, world-class science, knowledge and

intelligence, and the delivery of specialist public health services.

Across the full range of its functions, PHE requires access to high-quality evidence

much of which derives from research. PHE is well placed to undertake the research

necessary to generate some of that evidence and it accesses the remainder through the

robust findings of researchers globally. Whether undertaking research itself, or

accessing findings, PHE works closely with researchers based in universities or other

research institutions.

The current report focusses on a year of major change in the organisation of PHE’s

research and related activities. Changes are most evident in the closer, mutually-

dependent working with the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) health

protection research units (HPRUs) and in revised relationships with UK-based health

research funding organisations.

Reassuringly, change was accompanied by sustained excellence – papers published in

the most respected, peer-reviewed scientific literature, substantial external income

achieved from diverse national and international sources, and high-quality research

training experienced at doctoral level and beyond.


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Executive summary

PHE research achievements:

more than £22 million in external research income

669 peer-reviewed publications

significant contributions to the evidence base for public health policy and practice

Research in PHE

PHE does not commission research. Our mandate from government, agreed with the

Department of Health, refers to ‘undertaking and contributing to research and

development in areas relevant to our functions’. PHE resources and expertise are

augmented by engagement with academic researchers as well as national and

international health services and industry.

Building for the future, PHE must both sustain its productivity, excellence and leadership

around current research strengths while also developing research on other major

challenges to health, non-communicable diseases. That process has begun and its

achievement will be a hallmark of PHE’s research review reports in future years.

Workshops have been held to prompt engagement of researchers internally and

externally and research funders with the principal evidence gaps for public health.

Workshop reports are published on our website. See

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/public-health-england/about/research

Strategy

Our strategy ‘Doing, supporting and using public health research – the PHE strategy for

research, translation and innovation’ was completed and published in August 2015. The

achievement of measures of success set out for that strategy will be the framework of

future annual research reviews. See https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/doing-

supporting-and-using-public-health-research-phe-strategy

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/public-health-england/about/research

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/doing-supporting-and-using-public-health-research-phe-strategy

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/doing-supporting-and-using-public-health-research-phe-strategy


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Funding

PHE records show that £22.1m of external funding was secured for research and

related activities during financial year 2014/15. Funding sources are shown in Table 1.

The impact of the shift in the principal source of funding – from direct grant to

competitive, peer reviewed awards – is evident. The organisation must now benefit from

the relevance, focus and quality of its research endeavour, resources, and researcher

experience, by engaging more frequently in open competitions. Successful attraction of

funding awards is the goal. However, the value of high-quality feedback from

international peers engaged by the external funding bodies is also recognised as a

significant driver of research quality.

A selection of funding awards that contributed to the sums below demonstrates that

many collaborating partners – in academia, health and care services, industry and not-

for-profit organisations – facilitate the diversity of PHE research (Appendix 1).

Table 1: Sources of external research funding to PHE

Funding source 2013/2014 (£m) 2014/2015 (£m)

Direct funding from the Department of Health to

support research (legacy from the Health

Protection Agency)

9.5 --

Department of Health, including NIHR (via open

competition)

1.6 6.2

Funding from other government departments (via

open competition)

3.3 2.3

UK higher education institutions 0.3 0.4

UK businesses 1.6 1.0

Not-for-profit organisations 1.8 2.9

European Commission programmes 3.1 3.3

Other international funding (including non-UK

government)

8.5 5.9

Total 29.7 22.0


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Significant research initiatives

By the end of March 2015 the 13 NIHR HPRUs had completed their first full year of

operation, albeit one that included set-up activities such as staff recruitment.

Achievements noted in the report, eg high-quality publications, were delivered by those

units. In future years, the PHE annual research review will highlight in detail the

advances in public health knowledge made by the NIHR HPRUs.

The global response to the outbreak of Ebola virus disease that began in West Africa in

2014 was informed by the work of a number of the NIHR HPRUs. In addition, PHE staff

in a number of units were themselves deployed as part of the response.

A significant dimension of health research in NIHR HPRUs is the involvement and

engagement of patients and people (PPI/PPE). All units have PPI/PPE strategies and

dedicated staff support to ensure its implementation.

Details of the achievement and current work of the NIHR HPRUs are on their websites,

accessible through the links in Table 2.

Table 2: The National Institute for Health Research health protection research units

NIHR HPRU Website

Blood-borne and sexually transmitted infections http://bbsti.hpru.nihr.ac.uk

Gastrointestinal infections www.hprugi.nihr.ac.uk/

Chemical and radiation threats and hazards www.ncl.ac.uk/hpru/

Health impact of environmental hazards http://hieh.hpru.nihr.ac.uk/

Environmental change and health www.hpru-ech.nihr.ac.uk/

Development of modelling methodology www1.imperial.ac.uk/hprumodelling/

Emergency preparation and response http://epr.hpru.nihr.ac.uk/

Emerging and zoonotic infections www.hpruezi.nihr.ac.uk/

Respiratory infections www1.imperial.ac.uk/hprurespiratoryinfections/

Immunisation

Evaluation of interventions www.bristol.ac.uk/social-community-

medicine/centres/nihr-hpru/

Healthcare-associated infections and

antimicrobial resistance

www.herc.ox.ac.uk/research/dce-research-at-

herc/studies-15/health-protection-research-unit-in-

healthcare-associated-infections-and-

antimicrobial-resistance

www1.imperial.ac.uk/hpruantimicrobialresistance/

http://bbsti.hpru.nihr.ac.uk/

http://www.hprugi.nihr.ac.uk/

http://www.ncl.ac.uk/hpru/

http://hieh.hpru.nihr.ac.uk/

http://www.hpru-ech.nihr.ac.uk/

http://www1.imperial.ac.uk/hprumodelling/

http://epr.hpru.nihr.ac.uk/

http://www.hpruezi.nihr.ac.uk/

http://www1.imperial.ac.uk/hprurespiratoryinfections/

http://www.bristol.ac.uk/social-community-medicine/centres/nihr-hpru/

http://www.bristol.ac.uk/social-community-medicine/centres/nihr-hpru/

https://www1.imperial.ac.uk/


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Global and international research

Global health is a significant area of PHE activity and much is underpinned by excellent

research particularly in infectious disease and emergency responsiveness. The

organisation’s ability to respond alongside global partners to the ebola outbreak in 2014

would have been diminished significantly without its ongoing research.

While much of our other research is relevant to public health internationally, our ability

to conduct research with international partners in significant research consortia is

demonstrated by our continuing success in attracting funding via a range of European

Commission research and development programmes.

Building research capacity and capability

PHE runs two, small, internal funding schemes: the PhD studentship scheme and the

Pump Priming Fund.

The purpose of the PhD studentship scheme is to recruit talented new researchers to

the organisation, while also developing PHE staff in the co-supervisor role. As PHE is

not a degree awarding institution, projects are undertaken in collaboration with

academic partners and the doctoral student registers with one of those.

In addition to support from the academic partner, PHE takes seriously, and dedicates

resource to, ensuring an excellent research training environment and experience for

each PhD student. The PhD projects listed in Table 3 were awarded funding through

internal competition in 2014/15 and students were selected through open (external)

competition.


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Table 3: New PhD studentships awarded by PHE in 2014/15

Project title University partner

Public health implications of association between influenza

virus and pneumonia-causing bacteria: secondary bacterial

infection and severity of influenza

Cambridge University

Characterising the gamma delta T cell response to cancer

and infectious disease: two sides to the same story?

St Georges, University of

London

Group processes in community responses to flooding:

Implications for resilience and wellbeing

Sussex University

Potential toxicity of inhaled nicotine in e-cigarette refills St Georges, University of

London

Antibody correlates of protection for Ebola virus infection:

Effects of mutations within the virus on cell entry and

immune escape

Liverpool University

New materials to act as fortuitous dosemeter for emergency

dosimetry

Durham University

The purpose of the PHE Pump Priming Fund is to stimulate new areas of research or

provide support for relatively small projects that are likely to lead to more substantial

proposals for external funding. Applications from relatively inexperienced researchers

are also encouraged. The maximum award per project is £10,000. The projects detailed

in Table 4 were selected for funding through internal competition in 2014/15. The

success of each project in achieving goals set out in the initial proposals is tracked and

will be reported.


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Table 4: Pump Priming projects funded by PHE in 2014/15

Project title Awardees

Development of methodologies for the quantification of

cerium dioxide and silver nanoparticles in biological

samples

Tim Marczylo, Rachel Smith,

James Warren

Sensor systems for rapid detection of bacterial growth Mark Sutton, Robert Watson

Magnetic bead immunocapture enrichment of clinical

specimens for virus discovery using host’s IgM antibody

response

Arinder Kohli, Samreen Ijaz,

Richard Tedder

Surveillance of treatment failures in primary care delivery

of the National Chlamydia Screening Programme

Kevin Dunbar, Gillian Smith,

Rachel Pitt

“Antibacterial” hand soaps: do the risks associated with

long-term daily use outweigh any associated benefit?

Ginny Moore, Mark Sutton

New entrant LTBI screening pilot for high risk populations

in Kirklees and Bradford

Ebere Okereke, Clare

Humphreys

Development of methodologies for the quantification of

substances of concern for human health in fetal blood

spots

Karen Exley, Tim Marczylo,

Ovnair Sepai

Use of transgenic cell lines to predict susceptibility of

mouse strains to viral infections

Victoria Graham

Bacterial metagenomics; Application of next generation

sequencing (NGS) technology for the direct detection

and analysis of bacterial species from highly complex

bacterial communities

Dunstan Rajendram, Kartyk

Moganeradj, Kevin Herbert


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Publications

PHE staff achieved publication of 669 individual peer-reviewed articles during the

calendar year 2014. This number was assessed through reports from authors and

systematic literature searching. This number excludes reports produced by PHE as part

of its advice and guidance functions. We note 215 other publications, including

published conference abstracts, book chapters, editorials and letters. A full list of

publications is available.

The total number of publications is lower than that reported for 2013. In part this is

accounted for by more systematic exclusion of duplicate records such as electronic and

print publication of the same paper. The systematic approach used this year will be

continued in future to enable more accurate inter-year comparison.

Each of the 669 articles included at least one PHE author and together appeared under

more than 200 different journal titles, reflecting the broad scope of PHE’s remit. The

journals in which PHE authors published the most frequently were:

Epidemiology & Infection – 37

PLoS ONE – 37

Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy – 32

Eurosurveillance – 29

Vaccine – 23

In line with the policies of many research funders, PHE supports and encourages

publication in open access titles.

Publication highlights

A full list of all publications involving PHE published during 2014/15 accompanies this

report.

A selection of key papers is presented below together with a brief description of its

importance for public health.


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Table 5: PHE publication highlights from 2014/15

Publication Why is this important?

Amos GC et al. (2014) Functional

metagenomic analysis reveals rivers are

a reservoir for diverse antibiotic

resistance genes. Vet Microbiol. Jul

16;171(3-4):441-7.

doi: 10.1016/j.vetmic.2014.02.017

Amos GC et al. (2014) Waste water

effluent contributes to the dissemination

of CTX-M-15 in the natural environment.

J Antimicrob Chemother. Jul;69(7):1785-

91.

doi: 10.1093/jac/dku079

This is the first study to demonstrate that CTX-M-

producing bacteria, derived from faecal carriers in

the general population, pass through the UK’s

high quality sewage treatment plants. CTX-M is

the world’s and the UK’s most significant cause

of multiple resistance in Gram negative bacteria

such as E. coli. We recovered significant

numbers of viable CTX-M producing E. coli and

the gene from a small river – a recreational water

course, also used by farm animals for drinking –

into which the treatment works discharged. The

river is a previously unrecognised source of

colonisation of multiple-resistant bacteria relevant

to humans.

Buttigieg KR et al (2014). A Novel

Vaccine against Crimean-Congo

Haemorrhagic Fever Protects 100% of

Animals against Lethal Challenge in a

Mouse Model PLoS ONE 01/2014;

9(3):e91516.

doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0091516

This paper highlights the first ever effective

vaccine candidate against CCHF virus.

Dowall SD et al (2014). Effective Binding

of a Phosphatidylserine-Targeting

Antibody to Ebola Virus Infected Cells

and Purified Virions J. Immunol.

Research ID 347903

doi: 10.1155/2015/347903

This publication highlights PHE research

capability on Ebola before the 2014/15 outbreak

in West Africa.

Elderfield RA et al (2014). Accumulation

of human-adapting mutations during

circulation of A(H1N1)pdm09 influenza

virus in humans in the United Kingdom. J

Virol. Nov 15;88(22):13269-83.

doi: 10.1128/JVI.01636-14.

This dissection of the mutations associated with

adaptation of pandemic influenza A H1N1 since

2009 and investigation of viral fitness using in

vitro model systems adds to understanding of

how novel influenza viruses adapt to humans

from animal hosts.


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Eylert, MF et al (2014). Falling bladder

cancer incidence from 1990 to 2009 is not

producing universal mortality

improvements. J. Clin. Urol. 7 (2) 90-98.

doi: 10.1177/2051415813492724

Reductions in bladder cancer incidence and

mortality in England coincide with a decrease in

high-risk occupations and public health measures

to reduce smoking. Some risk factors in modern

living may as yet be unidentified. It remains

paramount to ensure equity of access and

treatment regardless of gender, age, region and

social deprivation to further improve mortality.

The journal identified that this article was one

shared the most online.

Hayward AC et al (2014). Comparative

community burden and severity of

seasonal and pandemic influenza: results

of the Flu Watch cohort study. Lancet

Respir Med. March 16.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S2213-

2600(14)70034-7.

Publication of the FLUWATCH community cohort

study covering a period of five years from 2007 to

2012 summarised the application of modern

epidemiological and virological methodologies to

influenza illness in the community, yielding

detailed information about symptomatic and

asymptomatic infections in different seasons. The

study provided major insights about differences

and similarities of health seeking behaviour

during pandemic periods compared with

seasonal epidemic periods. This will be a

landmark study for many years to come.

Manning G et al (2014). Quantifying

murine bone marrow and blood radiation

dose response following (18)F-FDG PET

with DNA damage biomarkers. Mutat

Res. 770:29-36.

doi: 10.1016/j.mrfmmm.2014.09.002.

This study showed that leucocyte gene

expression and micronuclei in reticulocytes were

highly sensitive biomarkers for reliable estimation

of the poorly-understood low doses of radiation

delivered in vivo to murine blood and bone

marrow from whole-body fluorine 18 ((18)F)-

fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission

tomography (PET).

Marriott AC et al (2014) Low dose

influenza virus challenge in the ferret

leads to increased virus shedding and

greater sensitivity to oseltamivir. PLOS

ONE 9(4): e94090.


This paper is significant in demonstrating an

improved model for influenza infection, which can

aid development of antivirals and vaccines as

well as reducing the number of animals required

for such development.


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Meijer A et al (2014). Global update on

the susceptibility of human influenza

viruses to neuraminidase inhibitors, 2012-

13. Antiviral Res. 17. pii: S0166-

3542(14)00200-9.

doi: 10.1016/j.antiviral.2014.07.001.

Perez-Sautu U, et al (2014). Y155H

amino acid substitution in influenza

A(H1N1)pdm09 viruses does not confer a

phenotype of reduced susceptibility to

neuraminidase inhibitors. Euro Surveill.

10;19(27). pii: 20849.

These papers report the early detection of

unusual viruses and resistance to antiviral

treatments by PHE Respiratory Virus Unit,

through enhanced surveillance and mechanistic

studies of unusual variants.

Newman EN et al (2014) Seroconversion

for Infectious Pathogens among UK

Military Personnel Deployed to

Afghanistan, 2008-2011. Emerg Infect

Dis. 20(12):2015-22.

doi:

10.3201/eid2012.131830.PMID:25418685

This publication highlights the utility of the

longstanding and fruitful PHE collaboration with

the Ministry of Defence.

Nicholson KG et al (2014). Randomised

controlled trial and health economic

evaluation of the impact of diagnostic

testing for influenza, respiratory syncytial

virus and Streptococcus pneumoniae

infection on the management of acute

admissions in the elderly and high-risk

18- to 64-year olds. Health Technol

Assess. May;18(36):1-274, vii-viii. doi:

10.3310/hta18360.

Evaluation of cost-effectiveness of rapid

laboratory diagnosis for respiratory illness

requiring NHS secondary care over several

winter seasons, funded through NIHR Health

Technology Assessment, produced some

surprising findings. These have been used to

inform NICE guidelines (2014) on community

acquired pneumonia (CAP).


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Parker M et al (2014). Identifying the

Science and Technology Dimensions of

Emerging Public Policy Issues through

Horizon Scanning. PLOS One.


Resulting from a seminar at the Centre for

Science and Policy (Cambridge, March 2013) this

paper identifies 30 emerging issues considered

to be top priorities for policy makers, including in

health and healthcare. A possible measure of

subjective wellbeing combined with life

expectancy is discussed. It could be used as a

‘common currency’ across government and

sectors to compare the impact of apparently

disparate policies and inform decisions about

resource allocation and prioritisation.

Pebody RG, et al (2014). Uptake and

impact of a new live attenuated influenza

vaccine programme in England: early

results of a pilot in primary school age

children, 2013-14 influenza season. Euro

Surveill. 5;19(22). pii: 20823.

This report of early analysis of the effectiveness

of live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV) in

children is likely to be of interest to an

international audience as the new vaccine

programme is introduced into the UK.

Pernot E, et al (2014). Usefulness of

saliva samples for biomarker studies in

radiation research. Cancer Epidemiol

Biomarkers Prev. 23(12):2673-80.

doi:10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-14-0588.

Saliva samples could be an ideal non-invasive

alternative to blood, particularly in children and

for large molecular epidemiology studies. This

can facilitate the management of emergency

situations and detection and surveillance of

diseases. Saliva can be used to study effects of

limited magnitude from low doses of infra-red

radiation as many samples are required for

statistical significance.


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Thomas HL et al (2014). Enhanced

MERS coronavirus surveillance of

travellers from the Middle East to

England. Emerg Infect Dis. 20(9):1562-4.

doi: 10.3201/eid2009.140817

Abroug F et al (2014). World Health

Organization Global Outbreak Alert and

Response Network Middle East

Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus

International Investigation Team. Family

cluster of Middle East respiratory

syndrome coronavirus infections, Tunisia

2013. Emerg Infect Dis. 20(9):1527-30.

doi: 10.3201/eid2009.140378.

These papers report the PHE Respiratory Virus

Unit contribution to development of knowledge on

MERS Corona virus through surveillance and

outbreak investigations.

Tonge, DP, et al (2014). Amplicon –

Based Metagenomic Analysis of Mixed

Fungal Samples Using Proton Release

Amplicon Sequencing PLOSOne

9(4)e93849


A high-throughput sequencing method to

determine fungal speciation is described. Fungal

spores contribute significantly to disease,

particularly respiratory disease, in the UK and are

closely associated with activities such as

composting and weather events like flooding.

Current methods for speciation are culture based

and may only identify about 17% of the ca.

12,000 species named for the UK, itself only a

fraction of those in the environment. This method

is faster, with broader scope for fungal

identification and, with refinement, can become

quantitative. This is an important advance in

understanding the contribution of fungi to public

health.

Vardoulakis S, et al (2014). Comparative

assessment of the effects of climate

change on heat- and cold-related

mortality in the United Kingdom and

Australia. Environ Health Perspect.

122(12):1285-92

doi: 10.1289/ehp.1307524

This paper highlights the influence that climate

change is likely to have on deaths. While climate

change could have a beneficial effect in reducing

cold weather deaths there will be an increase in

hot weather deaths. The best methods to reduce

the effect of extreme temperatures on mortality

need to be considered.


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Research governance

PHE research governance staff support the ethical review and regulatory processes for

all research applications that involve human subjects, their tissues and/or data.

Twenty four research studies received PHE sponsorship approval and received a

‘sponsorship in principle’ letter between 1 April 2014 and 31 March 2015. Study titles

are listed in Table 6 below. To date they are either open or in the final stages of set up.

No clinical trials or DNA analysis studies were set up under PHE sponsorship during

2014/15. The largest increase in studies during the year relative to previous years was

in motivational messaging.

Table 6: Research studies sponsored by PHE

Study name and subject area Study type

Behavioural science

Improving outcomes from NHS Health Checks Southwark Motivational messages

Analysis of suboptimal dosing in methadone maintenance

treatment

Questionnaires and focus

groups

Effectiveness of appearance versus health-framed alcohol

awareness Interventions

Internet research

Assessing the effect of different reminder text messages

on uptake of NHS Health Checks in Southwark

Motivational messages

The impact of content on GP screens on NHS Health

Check uptake


Contacting GPs to reduce unnecessary prescriptions of

antibiotics


A cluster RCT using body image scans in NCMP results

letters


Blood-borne infection

Assessing the feasibility of blood-borne virus testing

inemergency departments

Tissue analysis

Emergency response

Study of decontamination efficacy following the 'Ladder

Pipe' decontamination procedure with and without

detergent

Evaluation

Study of the effect of delay on decontamination

effectiveness and outcomes, following the 'Ladder Pipe'

decontamination procedure

Evaluation


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Environmental hazards

Biological dosimetry and radiation response Tissue analysis

Evaluation of heavy metals and chemicals in dried

newborn blood spots

Tissue analysis

Gastrointestinal infection

Autochthonous hepatitis E – pathogenesis of infection Tissue analysis

Immunology and vaccination

Immunisation in orthodox Jewish communities Questionnaire and focus

groups

Pneumo carriage, PIN study Tissue analysis

Mental health

Haringey Mental Wellbeing Survey 2014 Questionnaire study

Microbiology

“Antibacterial” hand soaps: do the risks associated with

long-term daily use outweigh any associated benefit?

Evaluation

Respiratory infection

Improving the detection of active TB in A&E departments Tissue analysis

Sexual health

Evaluation of a rapid diagnostic platform for the molecular

detection of Chlamydia trachomatis

Evaluation

Establishment of a national syphilis serum bank Tissue analysis

Are patients experiencing undetected chlamydia treatment

failure?

Tissue analysis

Repeat diagnosis of syphilis in attendees of GUM clinics Data analysis

UK HIV stigma index 2014 Questionnaire study

Investigation of measured antibody response to chlamydia

trachomatis infection in women with known clinical

histories using residual serum samples collected from

genitourinary medicine (GUM) clinic attendees

Tissue analysis


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Staff recognition for research achievements (notified to PHE’s Research

Support Office)

Research undertaken by PHE staff may lead to a direct impact on public health

programmes or interventions. This is exceptionally important for the effective delivery of

PHE’s remit. But research can also contribute significantly to the careers and personal

professional satisfaction of those involved. External recognition of research

achievements contribute further to personal fulfilment and we are very pleased to profile

in Table 7 a small snapshot of the many indicators of esteem gained by colleagues.

Table 7: Recognition of PHE staff for their research gained 2014/15

Personal highlights of PHE staff 2014/15

Tim Gant:

gave the Health and Environmental Sciences Institute CITE plenary lecture at

EUROTOX

gave the Philip Chambers memorial lecture at the meeting of the Irish Society of

Toxicology

gave the Royal College of Pathologists Joachim Kohn memorial lecture

renewed as Honorary Professor of Health and Medical Science at the University of

Surrey (three-year renewal)

renewed as Honorary Senior Research Fellow at Imperial College (two-year renewal)

Clare Heaviside:

awarded an Honorary Senior Lectureship at London School of Hygiene & Tropical

Medicine

renewed as an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the University of Birmingham

Lisa Jameson: awarded PhD from University of Liverpool

Stacey Leech: awarded PhD from London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

Helen Maguire: appointed as Honorary Clinical Reader at the Department of Infection

and Population Health, University College, London, 2014

Paul Shrimpton: awarded the European Federation Of Medical Physics Medal in

recognition of an individual's outstanding and internationally acknowledged contribution

to the advancement of medical physics


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Hannah Tanner: awarded Robert Gaddie medal poster prize at the West Midlands

Association of Clinical Biochemistry for a poster entitled “16s PCR and Sequencing:

Development and Validation of a New Assay”

Katy-Anne Thompson: awarded funding for PhD project (Does tap design impact microbial

colonisation/biofilm formation) from Hospital Infection Society, in collaboration with

University of Southampton

Sotiris Vardoulakis: awarded an Honorary Associate Professorship at the

University of Exeter

Neil Woodford:

included in Thomson Reuters’ highly cited researchers list: http://highlycited.com/

seconded part-time to the Prime Minister’s Review on antimicrobial resistance,

chaired by Jim O’Neill

http://highlycited.com/


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Appendix 1: Funding awards involving PHE that were secured

during 2014/15

Award title Awarding body Award to

PHE

Lead organisation Collaborating

organisations

Investigating and defining reduced

susceptibility to antiseptics among

Staphylococcus aureus isolates

Hospital Infection Society £9,500 PHE University of Birmingham

MMP-1 Caseating mouse model as

a model of natural transmission

Bill and Melinda Gates

Foundation

£229,400 University of

Southampton

PHE

Prime-boost vaccine combinations

in guinea pigs

Norwegian Government

(NORAD) through

Tuberculosis Vaccine

Institute

£161,124 Tuberculosis Vaccine

Initiative

PHE

Evaluation of rotavirus vaccination

impact on local health system

Pharmaceutical company £20,400 University of

Liverpool

PHE

Development of advanced

Bayesian techniques for application

to the calculation of internal doses

and their uncertainties

United States Department

of Energy

£182,239 Pacific Northwest

National Laboratory

PHE

In vivo microevolution of Neisseria

meningitidis during progression

from harmless commensal to

invasive pathogen

Meningitis UK/Trust £148,387 University of Oxford PHE, Wellcome Trust

Sanger Institute


22

Development and validation of

Legionella PCR for water sampling

Health & Safety Executive £61,707 PHE HSE

Sexual risk reduction National Institute for Health

Research

£6,124 UCL School of Life

and Medical

Sciences

PHE

Vaccine evaluation in mice Global Health and

Vaccination Research

(GLOBVAC)

£262,501 Norwegian University

of Life Sciences

PHE

Macrophage growth inhibition

assay project


Foundation (via Aeras)

£43,200 University of Oxford PHE

Evaluation of the Check Points

assay for detecting carbapenemase

genes in multi-drug resistant Gram-

negative bacteria

Check Points £9,100 PHE None

MIRACLe: Molecular indicators of

radiation exposure from circulating

lymphocytes

European Commission

programmes

£32,400 PHE CEA (Commissariat a

l’Energie Atomique et aux

Energies Alternatives)

France

Sampling and decontamination of

inhabited areas using automated

robots

Home Office £49,023 PHE None

Activity of β-lactamase inhibitor

combinations

Pharmaceutical company £30,128 PHE None

Defining reservoirs of ESBL-

producing E. coli and the threat

posed to personal animal and

public health in the UK

National Institute for Health

Research

£594,987 PHE Cardiff University, Animal

& Plant Health Agency,

University of East Anglia,

Scottish Water, Glasgow

Royal Infirmary


23

Does ELF-EMF exposure affect

DSB repair following exposure to

100 mGy

The EMF Biological

Research Trust

£26,092 University of Sussex PHE

Shaping EUROpean policies to

promote HEALTH equity (EURO-

HEALTHY)

European Commission

programmes

£197,038 PHE University of Coimbra

and 12 other consortium

partners

Strategic Clinical network

(Maternity) North East and North

Cumbria – data collaboration

NHS Northern Clinical

Network

£30,000 PHE NHS Northern Clinical

Network

North East Invasive Pneumococcal

Disease Research Project

Pharmaceutical company £250,000 PHE University of Leeds

National Drug Treatment Monitoring

System (NDTMS) in prisons

National Offender

Management Service

£169,612 PHE None

Comparing effectiveness of

interventions in the elderly

European Commission

programmes

£432,907 Epiconcept, France PHE and 22 other

consortium partners

Evaluation of eravacycline vs.

carbapenemase-producing

enterobacteriaceae and non

fermenters


EURO-CARES: A plan for

European curation of returned

extraterrestrial samples

European Commission

programmes

£62,502 Natural History

Museum

PHE and 7 other

consortium partners

BIOMIT National Institutes of

Health

£19,400 CREAL (Centre de

Recerca en

Epidemiologia

Ambiental) Spain

University Hospital

Hradec Kralova, Czech

Republic; PHE


24

TBVI co-ordinated bid European Commission

programmes

£1,097,837 Tuberculosis Vaccine

Initiative (TBVI)

PHE and 9 other

consortium partners

Testing the efficacy of chemical

showers with a novel BSL4 suit

Defence Science

Technology Laboratory

(Dstl)

£21,276 PHE None

Interventions against TB: Eliciting

the mucosal response to TB

European Commission

programmes

£623,253 St George's,

University of London

PHE and 8 other

consortium partners

Tropical infectious disease:

expanding and accelerating product

development

Medical Research Council £24,000 Liverpool School of

Tropical Medicine

(LSTM)

PHE, Oxford University

Feasibility study and tests to

determine sterilisation limits for

sample return planetary protection

measures

European Space Agency £689,861 Open University PHE

Assessing the reliability of internal

dose coefficients using uncertainty

analysis

Environment Agency £50,000 PHE None

Improving the anti-Fim3 response

to 5-component acellular pertussis

vaccines


Innate immune responses as

therapeutic targets

MoD Centre for Defence

Enterprise


Strathclyde

PHE

Detection and characterisation of

inflammatory agents associated

with bioaerosols

Natural Environment

Research Council

£84,342 Cranfield University PHE, Open University,

University of West of

England, University of

Plymouth, Environment

Agency


25

Immunogenicity study of

staphylococcal vaccine in NHPs

Pharmaceutical company £125,207 Pharmaceutical

company

PHE

Evaluation of test for detection of

carbapenemase activity


CONCERT European Commission

Joint Programme in

Radiation Protection

£371,042 Federal Office for

Radiation Protection,

Germany

PHE and 5 other

consortium partners

Gates foundation investment to

establish natural transmission

model


foundation

£90,701 PHE None

In vitro Ebola studies – Mapping

targets for therapy

MoD Centre for Defence

Enterprise


Liverpool

PHE

Humanised antibodies against

Ebola virus

Wellcome Trust £43,000 Pharmaceutical

company

PHE, University of

Westminster

CLOGIGAT European Commission

programmes

£84,400 PHE Norwegian University of

Life Sciences (UMB),

Norwegian Institute of

Public Health (NIPH)

Haringey Mental Wellbeing Survey Haringey Council £6,300 PHE None

A review of national nuclear

emergency recovery capabilities

Department for Food,

Environment and Rural

Affairs

£191,717 PHE None

European Virus Archive (EVA)

project

European Commission

programmes

£216,073 Aix-Marseille

University, France

PHE and 16 other

consortium partners

Development of a screening

capability for alphamers



26

National Awareness and Early

Diagnosis Initiative (NAEDI) cancer

networks supporting primary care/

Cancer Research UK facilitators

evaluation

University of Durham £15,680 University of Durham PHE National Cancer

Intelligence Network

Activity of protein synthesis

inhibitors against multiresistant

bacteria


Modern approaches for developing

diagnostics for Ebola virus

European Commission

programmes

£243,742 Public Health Agency

of Sweden

PHE

Ebola virus disease – correlates of

protection, determinants of

outcome, and clinical management

European Commission

programmes

£177,147 Bernhard Nocht

Institute

PHE

Clinical trial of Favipiravir for activity

against Ebola

European Commission

programmes

£12,289 Lyon P4 PHE, Institut Pasteur,

Universiteit Utrecht,

Bernhard-Nocht-Institute

for Tropical Medicine

Training on PCR assays for

arbovirus detection

Dstl £127,000 PHE Institute of Virology, Baku

A point of care antimicrobial

resistance test for Neisseria

gonorrhoeae and Mycoplasma

genitalium infection


Research

£85,153 St George’s,

University of London

PHE, University of East

Anglia, Atlas Genetics

Exploring the enhancer effect of a

new Serine-β-Lactamase inhibitor,

mechanisms of resistance

Enterobacteriaceae


Rapid detection of volatile organic

compounds

Dstl £81,612 PHE None


27

Evaluation London HIV Prevention

Programme

Schools For Public Health

Research

£112,000 UCL PHE

MOFINA (mobile filovirus nucleic

acid test)

European Commission

programmes

£92,036 Pharmaceutical

company

PHE

Collaboration on ovine polyclonals Pharmaceutical company £890,682 PHE Pharmaceutical company

Resistance surveillance programme

on bacteraemia and lower

respiratory tract infection

British Society for

Antimicrobial

Chemotherapy

£254,200 PHE NHS

Development of

fluoroindoloquinolones as broad

spectrum bactericidal agents

against multi-drug resistant bacteria

Medical Research Council £12,000 Kings College

London

PHE

Using chemical modification of a

novel antimicrobial drug scaffold to

reduce efflux from multidrug

resistant Gram-negative ESKAPE

pathogens (studentship)

Biotechnology and

Biological Sciences

Research Council

0 Kings College

London

PHE

New approaches for antibiotic

development (studentship)

Kings Health Partnerships 0 Kings College

London

PHE

Health protection research unit in

healthcare acquired infections


Research

£53,400 University of Oxford PHE, Animal & Plant

Health Agency


healthcare acquired infections


Research

£84,700 Imperial College

London

PHE, Wellcome Sanger

Institute, NWL Academic

Health Science Network,

Cambridge Veterinary

School


28


blood-borne and sexually

transmitted infections


Research

£369,700 University College

London

PHE, London School of

Hygiene and Tropical

Medicine


gastrointestinal infections


Research


Liverpool

PHE, University of East

Anglia, University of

Oxford, Institute of Food

Research


chemical and radiation threats and

hazards


Research

£165,400 Newcastle University PHE


health impact of environmental

hazards


Research

£236,600 Kings College

London

PHE, Imperial College

London


environmental change and health


Research

£173,600 London School of


Medicine

PHE, Exeter University,

University College

London


development of modelling

methodology


Research


London

PHE


emergency preparation and

response


Research

£205,500 Kings College

London

PHE, Newcastle

University, University of

East Anglia


emerging infections and biological

threats


Research


Liverpool

PHE, Liverpool School of

Tropical Medicine


29


respiratory infections


Research


London

PHE, Imperial College

NHS Trust, Birmingham

University


immunisation


Research

£122,000 London School of


Medicine

PHE


evaluation of interventions


Research

£120,000 University of Bristol PHE, University College

London, Cambridge MRC

Biostatistics Unit,

University of the West of

England

phe research 2014/15 annual review · phe research 2014/15: annual review 6 funding phe records...

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